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Tadawul bourse adds 0.36%
November 29, 2010--The Saudi Stock Exchange, also known as Tadawul, advanced 22.46 points or 0.46% Monday, closing at 6,332.43. Samba Financial Group gained 1.73%, reaching SR58.75.
Most petrochemical shares also advanced slightly, as market bellwether Sabic climbed back over SR100 (up 1.01% at SR100.50).
Bahrain economy grows in line with 4% forecast
November 29, 2010--Bahrain's economy expanded by 4.3% year-on-year in Q3 2010 according to the Central Informatics Organisation's (CIO) Bulletin of Quarterly National Accounts,
with year-on-year growth in key economic sectors including Manufacturing (8%) and Financial Services (6%).
Dubai Gold And Commodities Exchange Weekly View-November 28, 2010
November 28, 2010--Economic Data Overview
The coming week is capped by the release of the U.S. employment data on Friday. Over the course of the week there is a lot of economic data, but not much that will distract from the next reading on unemployment and payrolls. Of next importance will be the data on consumer spending as the U.S. holiday shopping season approaches.
he November employment report on Friday will be the high point of the week. At the time of writing, median forecasts are for an increase in nonfarm payrolls of around 150,000. This would be quite similar to the headline number in the October report. Back-to-back months of solid gains in jobs would be welcome, but it will take higher payroll additions for many months before the unemployment rate starts to fall to levels more consistent with a sustained economic recovery.
Other labour market indicators for November during the week include the November Challenger report on layoff intentions and ADP National Employment on Wednesday, the Monster.com Employment Index in the early hours of Thursday, and the employment components of the ISM national manufacturing and non-manufacturing indexes. The manufacturing index will be out on Wednesday, while the non-manufacturing index is slated for Friday, and thus will not be available to forecasters to help set expectations for service-providing payrolls.
Banks, real estates lift Dubai bourse by 0.50%
November 25, 2010--The DFM General Index ended Thursday half a percentage point, ending at 1,682.23. The local market started the first week after Eid holidays strongly, but the bellwether index dipped 4.77% compared to the last trading day before Eid. Bank Emirates NBD gained 1.58% to close at Dhs3.21.
Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) added 0.46%, finishing at Dhs2.20. On Tuesday, DIB launched the first Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) in the UAE in a new partnership with France's Eiffel Management. The firm is called Emirates REIT and is licenced by the DIFC-regulator DFSA. Emaar (up 0.83% at Dhs3.65) recovered from losses earlier in the week. Emirates 24/7 reported that UAE Central Bank governor Sultan Al Suwaidi said that "UAE banks need to attract nearly Dh40bnin new deposits to expand their financial resources to cut rates and bridge a gap between loans and deposits." Dr. Farouk Soussa, Chief Economist Middle East at Citibank in Dubai, told AMEinfo.com on request that, "the UAE Central Bank has been pumping liquidity into the banking system through repo facility and direct deposits over the past 2 years." Soussa added that "of course this is in response to the general liquidity crunch in the UAE, but that crunch is also partly a result of the Dubai debt problem. The CB also maintained order by making strong statements of support in the immediate aftermath of the Dubai World standstill."
Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank shares dip as bank sues Credit Suisse and S&P
November 25, 2010--The Abu Dhabi market ADX ended almost flat at 2,756.89 points as 11 shares gained and 11 lost value (four stocks remained unchanged). The UAE's third largest lender Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) weakened 0.43%, ending atDhs2.33.
Earlier in the day ADCB said in a statement it has initiated legal actions in the US against Switzerland's largest bank Credit Suisse (CS) and rating agency Standard and Poor's (S&P). ADCB accuses CS of "providing misleading information when structuring, marketing and selling an investment, known as Farmington" and S&P of providing "inaccurate, investment-grade ratings" to assets associated with the aforementioned structure. Farmington was designed as an emergency structuring transaction related to an SIV (structured investment vehicle) known as Stanfield Victoria which faced liquidity issues in 2007. ADCB invested in that SIV in 2005 and 2006, the bank says. On October 27, ADCB has reported 3Q net income of Dhs325m (versus net loss of Dhs531m in Q2 10).
Nasdaq Dubai listed shares gain slightly
November 25, 2010--The FTSE NASDAQ Dubai UAE 20 Index lost 1.06%, edning at 1,785.56. Dubai Ports (DP) World added 0.17% to close at $0.601. Interior designer Depa Ltd. closed 1.39% higher at $0.73. The value of equities traded on Nasdaq Dubai increased by 30% to 155 million dollars in October 2010, from 119 million dollars in October 2009, the exchange revealed.
In October, Al Futtaim HC was the most active Member of the exchange by traded value for the fourth successive month. Deutsche Bank was second, followed by EFG Hermes.Three more UAE brokers joined Nasdaq Dubai in October to take advantage of the merger of its liquidity pool with DFM: Al Dhabi Brokerage, Index Securities and NAEEM Shares & Bonds as join Nasdaq Dubai Individual Clearing Members. This raises the number of NASDAQ Dubai Members to 34. The exchange awaits its first initial public offering since 2008. Axiom Limited has announced it plans to IPO on NASDAQ Dubai in December 2010. Axiom announced a price range of $0.80 to $1.15, implying a market capitalization of between $760 million and $1.093 billion. Up to 35% of Axiom's issue shares are to be offered.
Kuwait market dips 0.10%
November 25, 2010--The KSE Price Index ended Thursday at 6,928 straight in a lackluster trading session. National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) weakened 1.51% to close at KD1.320.
MENA Real Estate Company (off 7.69% at KD0.060) posted the largest decline while Al-Mowasat Health Care Co. (up nine percent at KD0.120) topped the charts.
Qtel shares gain on rating agencies' comments
November 25, 2010--The Qatar Exchange in Doha added 0.37%, finishing at 8,178.77 points. On a year to-date basis, the QE (up 17.53%) posted the largest advance among GCC stock markets. Qatar Telecom (Qtel) shares gained 1.84% to close at QR183.00.
Yesterday, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said today that its ratings and outlook on Qatar Telecom (Qtel) (A/Stable/A-1), incumbent fixed-line and mobile telecoms operator in the State of Qatar (AA/Stable/A-1+), are not affected by Qtel's announced signing of an agreement with a consortium led by Tunisian Princesse Holding to acquire from Orascom's 50% stake in mobile operator Orascom Telecom Tunisie S.A. (Tunisiana) for about $1.2 billion cash. Tunisiana leads among Tunisia's mobile operators and on June 30, 2009, had a 52.9% subscriber market share. Rating agency Moody's followed today with similar statements, saying its rating (A2/stable) on Qtel would not be affected by the telecom provider's acquisition plans.
DME Oman linked swap and option contracts to be launched
November 25, 2010--The contracts, which will be listed for trading on Sunday December 5 for trade date Monday, December 6, 2010, are subject to the rules and regulations of NYMEX and Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc.
The Dubai Mercantile Exchange (DME) today confirmed the upcoming launch of a suite of DME Oman-linked swap and option contracts in early December. The contracts will be listed by CME Group which is a core shareholder of DME and the world’s largest derivatives exchange.
The six futures contracts that will be available for clearing on CME ClearPort are:
DME Oman Crude Oil Swap Futures
DME Oman Crude Oil vs. ICE Brent Swap Futures
DME Oman Crude Oil Average Price Option
Singapore MOGAS 92 Unleaded (Platts) vs. DME Oman Crude Oil Swap Futures
Dubai's first Real Estate Investment Trust launched
November 24, 2010--A joint venture that will lead to the creation of Dubai's first Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) was officially launched on November 23, 2010 at a high-profile event attended by His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of the Department of Civil Aviation and Chief Executive and Chairman of The Emirates Group
and His Excellency Mohammed Ibrahim Al Shaibani, Director-General of His Highness The Ruler's Court of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB), along with more than 100 public and private-sector decision-makers and investors.
